{POV - Jumper}
I suppose I have gotten used to the sensation of entering new Jumps now.
The tingly feeling receeds as my senses have adjusted to the new location.
Looking around I was indeed standing on a platform with the ‚Cannon' Item in hand with skyscrapers making up the main background of this world.
Looking down on towards where the ground should have been I was met with flowing water.
Although it did looked rather stagnant to be honest.
The surroundings around here looked like bad 3d models made in blender.
At least it didn't look as realistic like in the previous Jump.
Inspecting myself I found out I was still in the realistic teen body I spend my last Jump in.
Deep in myself I could also feel like I had the option to switch back to my original body as well as a new one.
This must be how having alt-forms feels like, huh?
I would have switched to my original body since it was more physically trained from my time in the first year as a Jumper but it would take a few uninterrupted minutes and with the rules and drawbacks I chose for this Jump I would have to eliminate the entities that exist here before being in the clear from danger for that time.
In my pockets I also found a golden pin which I immediately attached to my shirt thereafter.
This was the 'Loot' item which was better to have equipped at all times.
I did not know where I was exactly but I decided to follow the suspiciously linear path of platforms made out of concrete that were stretching across of me in a straight line.
I burst out in speed beyond what I should realistically be capable of as I began jumping through and between some minor obstacles such as walls and the occasional gaps.
With all of my Perks back and the new ones gained I had four Jumps worth of purchases aiding me.
All with the exception of ‚New Kid on the Block' ,aesthetic.hack' and ‚shatter.hack' which were toggled off at the moment.
Actually you know what?
I toggled ‚shatter.hack' on.
The robots should be affected by it.
Sadly I didn't have access to most of my Items as they were likely stored in my Warehouse currently since I didn't find them on my body.
Clearing out the first level however took priority to fill out my quota of people I had to murk before the robots get to them as well as finding a suitable place to look into my Warehouse uninterrupted without getting jumped.
It did not take long until I noticed something amiss with the senses equal to animals that I possessed through the body mod.
Were they birds, were they planes?
No, they were robots!
Humoid robots were flying towards me at a slightly slower than normal human walking pace from below me on all sides from the ledges of the platforms I was moving on.
There were eight of them in total.
Their designs looked more akin to a crash dummy mannequin with disjointed limbs and that red and black symbol thing where their faces would be.
All of them were red and the size of a regular person holding red batons.
Then they started shattering.
The reason?
Me of course.
I had immediately started shooting with the handcannon when they appeared.
From trying the game in my own time I already knew that the red robots would explode from just one ball shot at their heads.
Although they now shattered even without me aiming for their heads because of 'shatter.hack' making everything easier to break.
This didn't help much once they had me surrounded.
Withoutht SUPERHOT active since it was now only a one use per day ability that would stop once a fight ends practically meant I could only use it once per level here.
And I still had 100+ levels to complete.
Better safe it for a more desperate emergency.
Three of the now remaining 4 robots had already reached me.
Good thing I had a little something else prepared from the Jumpdoc.
The closest of the bots had already swung towards me but I leaned back creating distance and had an object appear out of thin air.
It was an entire red barrel.
The baton made impact with it which resulted in an explosion.
All robots near me simply shattered into tiny pieces from the force.
The 'Explosive Armaments' Item.
It let me infinitely spawn explosive barrels with explosions that didn't affect me.
And im using them as reusable shields to block attacks that also cleared anything close enough to me that would be hard to handle as a single person.
This left me to stand undamaged already close approaching the last remaining robot as I had moved to its position.
With a swift punch from my left fist the head of the killing machine was no more.
After each kill of those robots I had felt an energy building up inside of me.
It still felt minuscule but some potential was hiding behind it.
For now I ignored it since I didn't have enough to use it for anything significant yet.
I continued moving across the unnatural platforms until I reached an end point with a technological circle on the floor.
There was also a large end of race victory flag over it but the circle was kinda more noticeable y'know.
This was a teleporter from the game signifying the levels end and also what would bring me to the next level.
It was glowing which probably meant that it was active since the Jump Doc mentioned they would only turn on when all hostile entities in a large radius were cleared.
As I reached for the technological marvel fifty gold coins manifested on the floor.
…
Carrying those would be a hassle so I did the rational thing and dumped them into the the Item I was holding.
The hand-canon literally just absorbed them into itself as if it was just a visual illusion.
After it had eaten all of my money it didn't change.
I likely had to feed it more money until it received its first upgrade since in the mobile game the first upgrade cost 220 gold coins.
Thinking back about it a bit I probably didn't have much in the Warehouse since the arm cannon was reliable enough as a ranged weapon with infinite ammo compared to the guns I had and the katana and throwing stars would likely be enough as melee and additional ranged options if I were to lose the ball launcher since they could be summoned to me and were practically indestructible.
I did take the time to switch forms though and went in to retrieve some of the 20 regular maximum nuts from my newly formed warehouse.
I had just placed my hand on a flat wall which opened a light blue ovular portal.
I hadn't ever actually entered it before since I was locked out of every previous Jumps purchases besides the body mod for the last three Jumps which made me a bit excited.
Walking through the portal I was met with a dull grey space that if anything that could describe it was spacious.
Empty shelving was everywhere and right besides the portal I had entered in from was a door with a sign.
Apparently that was where I could enter the House I lived in for a whole year in my first Jump.
There was barely anything in here except the few Items I had purchased that were not with me when I entered this Jump.
From it I only took the 20 Maximum Nuts that would restock each Jump.
The four Maximumer Nuts and THE Maximumest Nut were left behind since they would be wasted if I used them now.
With a bit more oower in my pockets I was ready to continue the grind until I could leave this place and start a Jump with atleast a full decade of time next.
Nineteen Nuts were stored in the zipper pockets of my jacket that I had before becoming a Jumper while I had put the last one in my mouth without swallowing it in case for emergencies where I was about to die.
Stepping onto the circle I was teleported to a new place.
This time the water was replaced with lava and the platforms were made out of impossibly squared dirt with grass on top.
More robots began swarming me immediately.
Here I go killing again.
{Time Skip - 10 minutes later}
Making it towards level six I am not greeted by more robots but what looks to be human.
Or at least a 3d modal of a bald one.
Having just entered the level my ears were assoulted by screams.
"Heeeeelp! Heeeeelp! Heeeeeelp!"
The man screamed as if his life depended on it.
All the while nothing was near him and he stayed still as if glued on the spot.
Walking up to the guy was awkward.
I mean, looking back I did choose a drawback that made me have to kill the guy to leave the Jump.
To be honest I didn't really think of the reality of killing a person when I chose it now when thinking about.
But, come on, does this even look like intelligent life?
"Er- hello?"
I asked it a question.
"Heeeeelp! Heeeeelp! Heeeeeelp!"
It continued screaming because he hadn't stopped the entire time I was there.
After a few moments of blinking I walked away from a pile of shards on the floor with no more screaming things in sight.
My body kept fighting and running as if on autopilot while my mind wandered.
Good news, ‚shatter.hack' works on carbon-based life-forms.
Bad news, I'm feeling bad about killing something that may not have been alive.
I should definitely get some thinking done about my willingness to kill after this.
It's better to do this sooner rather than later in case I would have to deal with consequences for my possible future actions if I start killing too casually from now on.
Right now, everything was still feeling artificial and I was only killing mannequins that scream but ending the lives of people that feel real in future Worlds?
Not the same thing.
Probably.
Right now I already got what I wanted from this Jump and just want to leave.
All I have to do is kill fakes.
But I was reminded that I WILL have to kill actual people eventually.
My heart began beating slightly faster.
Whether that be for survival, power or protection it doesn't matter.
I know the real world has people who will try and hurt me and I also know the other worlds will have the same kind of people.
But I just don't want to do it at the slightest inconvenience.
I guess that's what worries me.
Letting me feel my heart beat slowdown for a second I relax a bit.
That's okey, I can handle that.
I WON'T kill pointlessly, that's a good enough rule for me.
{Time Skip - 20 minutes later}
I enter another new level and begin fighting through the hoards of machines.
Even if they are smarter and can fly thanks to a drawback, they still can't really do much against me since they too have to come close to kill me which makes them easy targets since I pretty much don't miss my shots or throws.
There were also two other robot types I came across that were the same as in the mobile game.
The purples which were taller and bulkier variants with double the HP equivalent to the red ones and the orange ones which were thick but short and even tanker than the purples.
They also somewhat resembled the minions.
My time here was mostly spent running through empty levels sometimes while the other time tearing through big groups of robots that came at me at once.
Well, sometimes they tried ambushing me alone or in smaller groups but that didn't work out for them since I could notice quickly through the enhanced senses I possessed.
There were still some giant breakable chains and water spouting big ass pipes sometimes placed that the robots tried to use against me but just moving away from them made them practically harmless.
The most successful robots thus far were those who tried dropping naturally occurring explosive barrels or miniature crates as their weapons of choice on me from the sky.
Good thing I had the Nut in my mouth at that time.
I probably wouldn't have survived that in time if I also didn't take the 600 point Perk of the Baddie Origin since it made me apabke of surviving things I shouldn't.
Now besides those already mentioned things and more screaming bald guys I had not seen any boss or player character equivalents.
Until now.
I shot a ball to continue before me where it hid a barrel mid air.
*Boom*
That explosive didn't come from me or a robot but instead a giant turret where a ridiculously buff bald guy in a suit and with black sunglasses stood.
Damn, since when did Jeff Bezos hit the gym?
Another red barrel was launched in my direction.
Realizing that I was standing on a straightforward platform path. I could close the distance properly, so instead I decided to be a bit more unconventional.
Using some of the stored up energy from ‚Overcharged' I conjured up a red robot of my own to stand beside me.
This one didn't have flight or brain upgrades though.
Then I summoned the grappling hook to my left hand.
I hadn't used it yet but with the Perk 'thrall.hack' I somehow already knew exact how it functioned and how to use it.
Aiming at a nearby building over a ledge way bigger than I could ever reach currently I was pulled into that direction with a strong force which somehow didn't ericit the physical whiplash I thought physics would make.
This wonderful Item worked on Minecraft grappling hook mod physics.
Splendid!
Already on a new building I shot the hook to the back to the main path behind the turret that was trying to follow and aim at me, ignoring the red robot I spawned.
Mid air I was spamming the shit out of the balls hitting the boss enemy multiple times almost as they didn't affect him until I reached close enough to his position mid air.
Another barrel came at me from blank range.
Instead of reacting I let it hit me.
The full force of the fiery explosion engulfed me.
But I casually was pulled out of it unharmed still approaching him.
My robot wasn't so lucky as it had exploded instead of me through ‚Harm Dispersion' having it take the damage in my stead.
I had the grappling hook dismissed with a blade shining in black in its place.
With a not so decisive consecutive stabbing session I was once more surrounded by shards on the ground of the mechanical turrets controller.
Leaving the sight behind I continued walking towards the next level in a fast pace.
…
Ironically enough I was met with last unique thing there could be found in this Jump right in the next level.
Staring me down on all its unity model glory.
It looked exactly like the "Victims" here but it was all grey as if someone was too lazy to bother with a proper texture.
In its hand was something familiar.
The very same 'Canon' which I was wielding the entire time.
Except mine had already been upgraded several times by now via the coin feeding method.
It now had a double barrel too, allowing for two balls to be shot out at the same time.
But I had it stored in the Warehouse.
Leaving me seemingly empty handed.
I had gotten a little confident and bored just using that Item.
So I had switched to mainly just using the Katana and Grappling Hook together and saving up some gold coins for souviners sake.
We stood on opposite ends of a path pointing out weapons of choice towards eachother.
Our sight intermingled as if I could see eyes on its faceless head.
Then we had a quickdraw.
That very hook I had in my arm shot out while it shot its own balls towards me.
The projectile of mine was faster but passed by the grey being landing somewhere behind it.
As the hook reached its target it started pulling me towards it in a fast speed.
The oncoming ball was approaching even faster towards me because of the grappling hook but in anticipation I used the katana to parry it as the projectile slowed somewhat once it got close enough to me.
With the readied blade and a swift motion came down one swing.
I posed like Zenitsu from Demonslayer once I reached the hooks location.
„Don't you realis-„
It's head had already been cut.
*shatter*
„-e your already dead."
After aurafarming (larping) I was satisfied.
A few hours later I had both requirements of the drawback 'Alternate Win Conditions' fulfilled.
With a swift scene change I was ok with continuing on.
{Chapter End}